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I'm not sure we could have asked for what was originally said to be just a parking ramp to turn into such a quality development.

I've been by the site many times in the past week, and I just cant help but get that warm and fuzzy feeling when I envision that corner being occupied . It should do a lot for the south end of Capital Park too.

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I'd say this is almost a sure bet. The fact that Roxbury Group has been so diligent and forthcoming leads me to believe they are serious. And, I don't think selling the condos will be a problem, at all. It's going to be able to tout itself as the first new construction condominium project downtown, ever, among many other unique selling points.

Now, what I am interested in is the financing, and how quickly the DEGC (Detroit Economic Growth Corporation), who is developing the parking structure, is going to move. That seems like where things can start getting sticky.

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I personally know one of the people involved in the development, but I'm not really at liberty to discuss any details. They are very serious about the development & have been working with the DEGC for some time. This will happen. What I am unsure about is the timeline, though.

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Zach, this condo development has been posted on since back in December. Sorry to be a little nitpicky. I do love this project. The building looks as if it was well thought out. I just wish Roxbury could double the amount of units so we could get a 23 story instead of a 17 story.

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The amount of floors for the 80 units is 6. If they doubled the units, it would have 12 stories of residential plus 11 stories of parking. I would like a taller building, that is all. And also have more floors of residential than parking.

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With the way this thing is designed I think the height is appropiate. I imagine its close to the height of the Lafayette building across the stree and it complements the BC without taking anything away from it. Plus being so long added height might look a bit awkward.

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I was kind of thinking the same thing, actually. Though, I would have liked to have seen it more condos than parking or equal parts parking and condo, but the market dictates these kind of things. It looks like its going to be around the same height as what was demolished.

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The amount of floors for the 80 units is 6. If they doubled the units, it would have 12 stories of residential plus 11 stories of parking. I would like a taller building, that is all. And also have more floors of residential than parking.

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Why is this a city owned/built garage? That's what I don't understand. It's for the book-cadillac, shouldn't they be building it. I'm not complaing at all, but I just want to know are there special circumstances that it has to be city owned and operated.

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Perhaps you should let Ferchill know that you want them to pay to build the garage.

The building of the garage by the city was one of the major points for selling Ferchill on the Book-Cadillac renovation project. Otherwise, I doubt they'd have taken it on. The city was trying to throw in everything in the kitchen sink, as they say, to make this renovation more attractive including a ridiculous amount of tax breaks. The garage was just another renovation perk. Let's be real, here. The Book-Cadillac, without all of the fancy financing and perks it received, would not have been a viable project for a developer, not this soon in downtown's renaissance.

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It does seem a bit small (528 spaces) if you take into account the hotel, but most of it will be reserved for resident and visitor parking, anyway, so it's not like it could sell out for events.

To break this down again, you have 67 units going into the BC + 80 units for The Griswold + potentially 125 units for the Lafayette Building. That gets you to just 272. Now, you have 455-room hotel, but there is no way you have to provide a space for every room. Let's cut that in half for 228 spaces. Now, 272 + 228 gets you 500 spots, with 28 left.

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This garage is not currently being planned for the Lafayette Building conversion. The developer is studying parking in the building (basement and second floor) or in the financial district garage across Lafayette. The project will support future condo/apartment projects in capitol park.

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I think the next best thing for garages is to completley close them up. That way, you can put large television screens and advertisement billboards, especially in entertainment Districts. What do ya'll think? Not for the book cadillac garage though.

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Perhaps, in a Campus Martius or Times Square-like area that would be a decent other idea, but outside of that, I'd rather it be the exception rather than the rule. IMO, giving a garage a facade treatment is about as good as you can do with these type of structures. Start slapping billboards and murals on them and it just starts looking even more tacky than a garage already does in an urban environment.